Seeking Writing Exercises

I’m sure any writer would understand this, but I’m dealing with character conflict. I’ve been plotting for months this unwritten novel. I jab down little notes here and there over this book that begs to be written. It seems every time I sit down to actually begin the writing process I find myself feeling a little blocked. Like suddenly all my abilities to write come to a standstill and I no longer know how to put words together. My conflict does seem to come to a point with my lead character. A character I shall not disclose the name of or backstory to just yet.

Now I swear it makes a person sound crazy, but again I’m sure other writers out there can relate to this. My muse seems to be the one causing the stall in the actual writing. It’s one of those moments where I feel I need to feel this character out just a tiny bit more. So that leads me to thinking of various writing exercises I should be trying. There’s interviewing the muse, where I attempt to just write and let myself and the character in question have a sit down and go with the flow of things. Don’t stop to correct my grammar, just write! There’s also the 10-minute quick writes. Now a personal favorite to get the fingers and mind pumping is the 10-minute quick write. You write for 10 minutes straight then stop. Doesn’t matter what you write about or how bad your grammar turns out in that 10 minutes. You just write straight through the time, then stop.

Really though I wouldn’t mind looking into other exercises to try. I think it’s time I really start making myself sit down once or twice a day to perform one. Keep the blood flowing as writing is the career I would love to take on. I’m always up for improving my craft and I think finding a handful or more of various exercises to do regularly will really help me with that. Any suggestions?

--XOXO, Jane

Better To Be Thankful Verses Miserable!

Oh my wow! I logged into my e-mail today (after just a couple days) and found I had over thirty e-mails to look at. Now granted, I probably usually get that in a couple times a day, but I usually check my e-mail numerous times throughout the day. I swear this sprained ankle has thrown me into a bit of an odd funk. This is not the depression sort that I had admitted to in a previous post. This is more of a personal frustration that I’m limited on my mobility at the moment. I think my big block when it comes to logging onto the blog, writing up a post and sharing my thoughts is that with my frustration comes the want to vent over it – and I just don’t want to make a blog post entirely about my ranting and raving, because I’m an overgrown baby with an air-splint on. LOL!

So instead of doing that, I’m going to share how thankful I am. I’m thankful, that the sprain is not as bad as the last time I had a sprained ankle. Last time it was over two years ago now and it was my right ankle. I had fallen down some steps and ended up on crutches for weeks! So yes, I am very thankful that my left ankle’s sprain is not as bad as the last time I had a sprain. I’m thankful that I can hobble around, even if I am supposed to (and for the most part do) keep it elevated. I’m thankful that the friends I have seen and gone out with are patient that I can’t move as fast as I normally can. I’m thankful to my mommy for sending me a “boo-boo box” filled with goodies! I’m thankful to my dad for reminding me not to push myself. I’m still thankful to my brother Tim for having brought me to the Urgent Care last Saturday, when I found out it was a sprain. I am thankful for the many blessings I have in my life that have absolutely nothing to do with my dang ankle!

Now I must say, going on about things I am thankful for is much better then ranting about the misery attached to having a sprain. At least now I can smile and know there is much to be thankful for. I also realize I really need to step up my blogging game better again and really get posting on here more often!

--XOXO, Jane